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Women in Conflict (merged thread)

....Our study focuses on gender and nation-building. It considers this issue from two aspects: First, it examines gender-specific impacts of conflict and post-conflict and the ways in which events in these contexts may affect women differently than they affect men. Second, it analyzes the role of women in the nation-building process, in terms of both actual current practices, as far as these could be measured and ascertained, and possible outcomes that might occur if these practices were to be modified.

The study team first surveyed the broader literature on women in development, women and governance, women and conflict, and women in nation-building. It then focused on the case of Afghanistan. This case study was chosen for three reasons: First, it is contemporary, and it offers a longer nation-building “track record” and thus more data than does Iraq, the other contemporary case. Second, the relevant debate and decision line is easy to track because gender issues have been overtly on the table from the beginning of U.S. post-conflict involvement in Afghanistan, in part because of the Taliban’s equally overt prior emphasis on gender issues as a defining quality of its regime. Third, in contrast to earlier cases of nation-building, the issue of women’s inclusion is presently an official part of any development agenda, so that all the active agents in the nation-building enterprise have made conscious choices and decisions in that regard which can be reviewed and their underlying logic evaluated.

The study concludes with a broad set of analytic and policy recommendations. First, we identify the gaps in data collection and provide specific suggestions for improvement. Then, we recommend three shifts in emphasis that we believe are likely to strengthen the prospects of stability and enhance the outcomes of nation-building programs: a more genuine emphasis on the broader concept of human security from the earliest phases of the nation-building effort; a focus on establishing governance based on principles of equity and consistent rule of law from the start; and economic inclusion of women in the earliest stages of reconstruction activities....

Women in Violent Extremist groups

The role of women in conflict appears in a few threads, I don't recall one on this theme. Topical as the media report young girls leaving to join ISIS in the UK and an attempt by one girl, with two brotehrs from Chicago.

First an IISS podcast after a meeting yesterday; their explanation:

Our panellists discuss the various roles of women in terrorist organisations – as female Western migrants, recruiters, and perpetrators of violence. They also examine the important role of women in countering violent extremism and terrorism. An analysis will be engaged which views terrorist organisations as social movements, which can highlight important implications for how we understand the roles of women in such groups and what this means for practitioners.

How getting women involved can combat extremism and save lives

A new study of 40 peace processes found a strong correlation between the involvement of women’s groups in political negotiations and successful negotiation and implementation outcomes.

(In policing) A growing body of evidence supports the notion that increasing the number of women in police forces could significantly reduce police violence and excessive use of force, as well as foster broader social and political stability.